President of Mexico Will Not Congratulate Joe Biden Until Trump’s Legal Challenges Wrap Up
Evan James
|
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is not in a rush to congratulate Joe Biden on his supposed victory in the US presidential race.
This is unlike most world leaders, who rushed to pour out their congratulations to Biden and Kamala Harris once multiple news networks declared Biden’s victory in unison on Saturday morning.
López Obrador, who has been the Mexican president since December 2018, told reporters at a news conference that “with regard to the US election, we are going to wait until all the legal matters have been resolved.”
“I can’t congratulate one candidate or the other. I want to wait until the electoral process is over,” he said.
López Obrador’s own personal experience might also color his judgment. In 2006 the Mexican media and establishment rushed to declare Felipe Calderón the new president despite a very close vote and allegations of fraud. López Obrador demanded a recount (which he ultimately didn’t get) and even called himself the legitimate president for a time.
In an interesting wrinkle, López Obrador belongs to a left-wing party, the National Regeneration Movement. Nevertheless, he has maintained a solid working relationship with Donald Trump, saying: “President Trump has been very respectful with us and we have achieved very good accords. We thank him for not having been a meddler and he has respected us […] we have no quarrels with any of them.”
Other notable world leaders who haven’t congratulated Joe Biden yet include Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, and Slovenia’s Janez Jansa (Melania Trump hails from Slovenia).
Share: